How can I get back Microsoft Office 2003 after downloading a trial of Office 2007?
Asked by
Fred931 (
9434
)
November 18th, 2009
Here’s the story: A school-owned computer has (had) Microsoft Office 2003. Recently, a student wanted to view a template that he/she found on the Office web site. It said that he/she needed to download Word 2007, so he/she did. Now, the trial period of 30 days has expired and the new software is useless. Also, for some reason or another, Word 2003 cannot be accessed.
The computer is running Windows XP Professional SP3, the folders Office11 and Office12 are both still existent in the Microsoft Office directory, and the original Office 2003 CD could not be found. Is there any way to get back 2003 at this point in time, or would I have to go retrieve a CD to get back Word 2003?
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5 Answers
You would likely have to find a disk and reinstall the program. It sounds as if your student allowed 2007 to upgrade 2003 instead of installing it along side of 2003.
If System Restore settings are in place, you may be able to turn back the clock. If not, contact Microsoft for a replacement disk. Use the education channel – it’s heavily discounted.
System Restore
Use System Restore to Undo Changes if Problems Occur
‘Every time you download or install a new game, application, or software update, you make changes to your computer. Sometimes that change may make your system unstable. Have you ever wanted to go back to the way it was? With System Restore, you can.’
Microsoft Education
http://www.microsoft.com/Education/Default.mspx
Microsoft is very strict about their software (since they are obviously a software company). If it’s a school computer then you obviously have the licensing for all the software, so just get a copy of the original 2003 and reinstall. If you somehow can’t you could use an open source alternative such as OpenOffice. http://www.openoffice.org/
Also, if there is a 2007 docx that isn’t compatible with your word processor, there are free converters out there :)
I’ll go with @pdworkin.
While installing Office 2007, it asks whether to keep Office 2003 alongside and install 2007; or uninstall 2003 and install 2007. He/she had probably chosen 2nd option. But, this is what I’ve seen on offline set up; I don’t know much about online set up/installation.
Well, it’s no use now, but you can download the compatibility pack. Here’s google search for the same. Install this and it will convert 2007 files to 2003, so then you can at least view the contents of the file; formats may get distorted.
Unfortunately, I’m not able to open Microsoft website here, so I posted the google search results page too.
I would suggest System Restore first, then somehow obtaining an original disk for 2003 and reinstalling.
Then I would fuss at the student big-time so they won’t do it again.
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